The Fifa U-17 World Cup in India could be robbed of its biggest attraction after Brazilian star Vinicius Junior failed to board a scheduled flight to India on Friday.
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The star striker was scheduled to take a flight to Mumbai after the Copa do Brasil final against Cruzeiro late on Thursday and join the rest of his teammates. But instead of boarding the flight next morning, Vinicius ended up at the club ground for a training session. Flamengo lost the bitterly-fought final on penalties after both legs failed to break the deadlock.
The Brazilian football federation (CBF) was stunned by the latest development involving their star man, a player who has been bought by Spanish giants Real Madrid for 60 million dollars and heralded as the next Neymar. Reports in Brazil said CBF's technical coordinator Edu Gaspar was at the club headquarters in Rio de Janeiro trying to work out a solution.
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Those in the know said Flamengo had an agreement with CBF that they would release Vinicius only if they had won Copa do Brasil. With the Cup now out of their grasp, the Brazilian giants want Vinicius to continue doing duty for them in the Brasileiro - Brazil's top division league - and not join the under-17 squad in Mumbai.
Vinicius was in unstoppable form for the Brazilians during the South America U-17 World Cup qualifiers, finishing as the top scorer with seven goals. The South American champions mauled Chile 5-0 in the final and won seven of their nine matches, most of them quite handsomely.
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Brazil have been placed in group D along with North Korea, debutants Niger and European champions Spain, who they face in the opener on October 7.
The Brazilian squad is currently camping in Mumbai and defeated New Zealand 2-0 in a friendly on Thursday.